One Strange Partnership
by A. G. Moria
Summary: Some people of Gotham City call the Batman crazy. Many would say that Gotham's villains are completely and totally insane. Well what about a crazy love life in this mental city? Would it make sense or will it simply turn out to be more than enough insanity than these two mad villains can handle? A CrocXOC fanfic.
1. A Normal Night

**Well, well, well, this is a fanfic I didn't see myself making for at least another two months. **

**Eh, but I blame the fact that inspiration took its course and thus this whole chapter was created in less than an hour. Regardless, enjoy my sudden burst of inspiration, people.**

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It was one brisk night on the western side of Gotham when an unusual shadow that was not bat shaped was atop one of the city's high rooftops. Indeed, sitting on top of one of Gotham City's countless gargoyles that were usually perched right on the edges of many buildings, a young woman held a newspaper in her hands and scanned it over. Only the normal news about some super villain was on the front headlines and it spoke once more about the city's mysterious Batman.

The young lady shook her head as she turned the page; she held no interest in the Batman as long as he didn't have any in her.

She then thought about that for a second.

Why would the Batman have interest in a young lady who had blood red hair, ghost white skin, had claws for fingers and toes, unnaturally pointy ears, wore nothing but slick, skin tight, black stealth suits most of the time, and was a world renowned thief?

Well she wasn't renowned in Gotham City so maybe that was the main reason but that didn't mean that he wouldn't be keeping an eye out for her.

Still, the young woman went on with minding her own business and skipped the sports section of the paper. She then happened to flip to the obituary section of the paper and her eyes instantly caught sight of a dead man's last words that lied right underneath his picture. She could care less about who the person was or what he looked like, in which, she went right to his last words.

Reading aloud, she said, "It was once said that evil was a point of view. That we are all immortal. And what we have before us are the rich feasts that conscience cannot appreciate and mortal men cannot know without regret. God kills, and so shall we; indiscriminately he takes the richest and the poorest, and so shall we; for no creatures under God are as we are, none so like him as ourselves, dark angels not confined to the stinking limits of hell but wandering his earth and all its kingdoms. And yet it is up to each and every man on this wandering planet to choose their path in life. Their path which will lead them to be rich or poor, alive or dead, happy or sad. However, the path which every man must first take is either the path of good or evil. In the eyes of God and the Devil, each and every one of us will take on the path of evil in the other's eyes".

Taking a moment to sum up the lesson of the man's last words, the strange being gathered herself before taking the paper and chucking it over the edge of the building.

"...Hmm," She hummed for a second and then snapped her eyes over several rooftops to a certain building. "The time for words is over. The time for action is now". A smirk danced across her shadowy face as she leaned over the gargoyle and gracefully fell a few stories before suddenly vanishing in thin air and appearing only a block away from her destination.

Leaping a great distance from her current rooftop, she managed to do a backflip in midair as she made contact with the hard concrete of a window's edge. It took a great deal of discipline to make sure that she didn't look down at the hundred foot drop or accidently take a step back since her feet were perfectly placed so she wouldn't fall.

Pausing just for a moment to take a breath of air, the mysterious mistress lowered both of her hands to the clear glass right before her. Unnatural, sharp fingernails slowly began to trace a circle in the glass.

"This is going to be too easy," She spoke to herself rather than to anyone else as she cut a hole in the glass and was sure to make it big enough so that she could fit through.

As she carefully took the circle of glass out from the window, she smirked once more as she slipped into the building and set the circle down on top of someone's office desk.

The shadowy being silently slipped out of the room and made her way into a rather long hallway, blending and walking amongst the shadows as she went down the hall. Taking her time, she glanced in and out of each room she passed by but made sure not to stray from her mission.

It was only at the end of the hallway that the mysterious woman found what she had been looking for. The door was, of course, locked but was easily unlocked when the young lady sent her fist right through the door handle. Wiping a few specks of dust and metal off of her glove, she proceeded into the room and watched her step as a tripwire awaited any thief that might try to enter.

Years of experience on the job provided the shadowy being knowledge and a sixth sense of such petty tricks to insure that failure was not an option.

Still, just because she had experience did not mean that she could just let her guard down. No, not one little bit. This was proved by her eyes as they darted across the room at a sharp speed and her graceful movements went unnoticed as they silently brought her closer and closer to her objective.

For the most part, the room was quite empty, except for a little safe at the far end of the space and placed right up and against the wall.

"_Perfect conditions for a trap of any kind…"! _The mysterious mistress thought to herself as she drew a silver knife from her black, leather belt.

She stood right before the safe and expected smoke pelts, poison darts, ninja assassins, more tripwires, throwing stars, pressure plates, an explosion, or, God forbid, the Dark Knight himself!

Nothing…

Yep… Nothing at all…

Nothing came at her and no one broke through the wall, prepared to fight her.

Turning her attention to the corners of the room, she quickly held out her knife at each corner as to attack someone but still found that no one was in the room with her.

Having thought the whole situation over, the young lady simply shook her head and pinned her easy mission on good fortune.

However, after breaking into the safe, her shadowy eyes widened at her catch.

A single penny.

"What the hell…."!? She hissed silently as her communicator quietly went off. Rolling her eyes in disgust over the item before her, she then answered the watch-like object on her wrist.

"I hope you've got what I asked you for, Maria". A screechy voice seemed to warn her through the communicator. "It's absolutely-"

"Yeah, yeah," The girl huffed as she gazed back down at the penny. "It's absolutely important that I get you this item for you so that you can get money by selling it on the market".

"Maria, I hope that isn't backtalk I hear coming from you". The voice then paused and then said, "Either way, I hope you've got-"

"A stupid penny"? She guessed as she pulled a small flashlight from her pocket and shined it on the coin.

"Yes," It responded to her even though it sounded irritated by her. "It's one of the first pennies ever made in America and belongs to that certain collection that anyone on the market would just die trying to sell to anyone willing to buy such a coin".

"Oh goody…" Maria rolled her eyes, exasperated. "Listen, dad, this was too easy of a job for me. Couldn't you have just sent one of the lackeys to do this instead"?

"No," He stated. "I needed someone with expertise in stealth and someone who wouldn't attract the attention of the Batman, you know that. Though, there's still the chance of him showing up and catching you in the act so don't get cocky".

"Heh, dad, I won't get caught by the Batman anytime soon so no need to worry". Maria half laughed as she picked up the penny and heard the sound of a gun getting ready to fire.

Her ears perked upwards as she instantly turned her head to the doorway. Seven gangsters stood at the entrance, guns in hands, and unhappy looks on their faces as they took notice of the person who had already grabbed what they were looking for.

"Gotta go," Maria sighed as she shut off her communicator and stood up to her full height of five feet and eleven inches.

Her eyes narrowed at the men and when one of them went to speak, she shot forward like a rocket and managed to kick two right in the throat. Bullets went off the very next half second but only managed to kill the two men that the shadowy mistress had sent flying to the floor; said shadowy being had vanished right then and there.

She quietly reappeared behind another man and ran a razor thin knife through his neck. The four remaining souls began to panic and sent bullets everywhere in the small hallway and the room they were half standing inside of.

By the time they were all out of ammo, they had calmed down a little bit since there was nothing but silence surrounding them.

That was, of course, before a claw-like hand shot out of nowhere and grabbed one of the men by his ankle. The other three only watched in silence as the one man got dragged down the hall, screaming bloody hell the whole way. Something along the lines of, _"OH GOD FUCKING SAVE ME! WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON!? WHAT THE HELL!? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU!? WHAT THE FUCKING HELL IS THAT"!?_ Then the three men went running to a nearby fire escape when the fourth's screams were ended by what sounded like a snapped neck which was followed by a creepy chuckle.

One of the gangsters "mysteriously" managed to fall off of the fire escape and met his fate when he met the ground with a rather loud _**SPLAT**__. _It was almost as if someone had pushed him.

A cable or thick rope was wrapped around the second one's neck and he was also pushed off of the building. His body only hung silently as it swayed back and forth once the life was ripped out from it.

The last one actually managed to get down to the ground without dying and then backed himself up into a corner next to a dumpster. He was shaking like a leaf and praying to whatever he thought could save his ass from the death that was coming his way.

The young lady stepped out of the shadows and started to walk in the direction of the man. Well he suddenly decided to grow a pair, and he then lashed out at her with random punches in hopes of defeating her. Unimpressed with this sudden display of fighting, she kicked him back and up against the dumpster before charging him and placing a knife to his throat.

Looking him right in the eyes, she asked him in a low growl, "Who sent you"!?

He didn't answer.

Well that would be the last thing he never answered to then.

Right as she went to drive the knife right through his throat, the man managed to land one punch into her gut. It made her recoil and grab her sides but worst of all it made the penny fall from her pocket and start to roll on the ground.

Maria went to make a quick grab for the coin but was too late when it rolled right into a sewer hole who's lid was mysteriously taken off and set aside on the ground beside it.

"Son of a bitch…" She cursed and slammed her fist to the ground. Maria turned her head back to the gangster and glared at the man much like how the Devil would leer down upon humanity. "You have anything to say for yourself, fucking cur"?

"Vous meurtrier fou", He shouted at her in straight up French. "Comme l'enfer que je n'avais jamais rien vous dire"!

Maria lowered her head only to look up and look him right in the eyes. "Alors, vous êtes plus d'aucune utilité pour moi, salaud". She hissed as she threw her knife into the man's throat.

"P- P- Putain..."! He stuttered as blood ran down his chin. His body fell to the ground with a thud and his limbs relaxed as the man quickly passed away.

Getting to her feet, the young woman turned her communicator back on and called her father back.

"What the fuck happened"!? He questioned her in a frantic tone. "You ended the call so quickly that I thought-"

"Pop," She silenced the man's voice. "Like hell I'd die so easily! You ought to know that"!

"Then what in the name of all that is golden and honey happened"? He asked in a much calmer voice.

"Ah, some French mobsters thought they could get the best of me with a few, little handguns". She responded to her father as she walked over to the sewer hole. "It was nothing big if that's what you're so damn concerned about, dad".

"How do you know that they were all French, Maria"? He questioned her some more.

"Just an assumption on my part," She shrugged her shoulders even though her father couldn't see her at the time. "I mean I really have no fucking clue, dad. One of them screamed in plain English but that doesn't matter right now. We've got bigger problems to worry about".

"What kind of problems are we talking about, Maria"? Her father asked as anger began to enter his voice.

She truly hesitated a second before saying, "I sorta, kinda, lost the penny down a sewer hole". Quickly, she yanked her head back from the communicator just as a roar of curses burst through the thing's speakers.

"WHAT THE HELL, MARIA"!? He shouted in rage and obviously enraged. "I send my best to get a fucking _penny_ and you manage to screw even that up"!

"Hey," She hissed right back at him. "It wasn't my fault! Blame the deceased man lying down on the ground next to me"!

"You know what just surrender the mission and get back to base". Her father ordered as it sounded like he was trying to calm down on the other end of the call. "Just make it home safe and make sure that the Batman doesn't follow you or even see you".

Maria scoffed as she jumped down into the sewer hole before responding with, "No fucking way".

"WHAT"!? It sounded like the communicator's screen was slightly cracked at that point. "I gave you an order, Maria, now return to base"!

"No," She said once more. "You sent me to go fetch your damn fucking penny so I'm going to fetch your damn fucking penny".

"In the sewers"?!

"Yep,"

"It's long gone by now, Maria"!

"Well a little look won't kill me now will it, pop"?

"Young lady, when you get home, you're going to be in a world of-"

At that point, Maria had tired of her conversation with her father and ended the call. She then took off the communicator and tossed it into the sewage that was swirling around her boots.

She sighed as she started to walk down the sewer system in total darkness, "Man… any excuse to escape an argument with dad and I had to go with searching through shit and piss in pitch black lighting…? Great… What next is in store for me? I run into a shark while I'm down here"? She jested to herself as she continued down the path of the unknown.

Indeed, it was a path that held more evil on it than her own path in life, and it certainly held a creature unlike any other.

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**And that, my good readers, is the end for the first chapter of this here story.**

**Now if,**

**A: You are wondering if there is more backstory to this OC, Maria, of mine then the answer would be yes. There will be a backstory to explain everything and that includes her father as well.**

**B: Wondering why I am writing such a fanfic. The answer is because I respect each and every villain, Batman villain or any type of villain actually. So much in fact that I try to make it my job to write for those who are on the lesser side of the fanfic count. Besides, I'd like to see more of a fan base around people's ideas and their take on a certain villain. I certainly have my own take on villains and I enjoy writing fanfics about it sometimes to show my take.**

**So if you deem my fanfic worthy enough then leave a review, if not then just wait until the next chapter comes out and see what you think about the story then.**

**Until next time, my fair readers!**


	2. Wandering And Wondering

**This here folks is the continuation from the first chapter of this here story into the second chapter.**

**So sit back, relax and ready yourself for some details.**

**Enjoy!**

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**Maria's Point Of View In The Story So Far:**

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After a while, I didn't know just how long I had being creeping around these damn tunnels. Never found anything like you'd see in the movies. Didn't even see any rats; only heard their annoying squeaks instead.

Although, as fate would have it, I ended up losing track of how many turns I'd taken in whichever direction I had gone in. It felt like I should've been with a black bag over my head since these tunnels were so dark; however, it was just fine for me since I could see just fine in the darkness.

Nevertheless, after bumping into a few walkways here and there and then stepping on those solid objects that who had no idea were for what seemed like forever, I started using my hands to feel around. (Really I just blamed the water current for pulling and pushing me against the walls and walkways but whatever.) Of course, I had started to feel my way around a bit but it was only after I had taken my gloves off; it was just to be on the safe side anyway.

However, so matter where I stopped to feel, it was always the same. Slime-covered concrete or brick walls. Dozens of rusted pipes running and gushing out water just above my head. Those sounds annoyed me way more than some squeaking rats ever could in an entire fucking lifetime.

_Drip... drip... drip..._

_Drop... drop… drop…_

These two same, mother fucking sounds bounced off of the walls around me, constantly.

Whether it was just above me, or somewhere off in the distance, I could hear it plain as day. It sounded like the ticking of a time bomb, and I hated time bombs due to past experiences with such explosives.

On the other hand, I eventually reached the end of the particular tunnel that I had been going down for a little while now; found nothing at the end of it. However, as I looked and felt around, I found another passaged leading to the right. So as far as I could tell, the only way I was getting out of here would be by going to the right.

Now if I were to be perfectly honest with myself, then I'd just come out and tell myself that I had gotten myself lost. Of course, being a damn stubborn human being, I just couldn't admit that after wandering these sewers pipes for about three or more hours, I'd managed to wind up lost.

Hell, I even spent the last forty or so minutes actually trying to look for that damned penny just in case I actually managed to find it and not go home just to get yelled at.

Did destiny cut me a break for a nice change of pace and allow me to find said coin? Fuck. No.

So after wasting my time searching through shit and piss, I pretty much gave up the whole penny search and tried to find a way out of these godforsaken tunnels for the last hour and now almost thirty minutes! To make matters worse (which wasn't hard to accomplish in this situation) I had icy water that came up to my shins when I stood up straight. Then there was the problem that the water was moving fast enough that it wasn't physically possible for me to keep my feet planted for more than a second at a time, but I've been in plenty worse situations.

Truth be told, aside from the god-awful smell, scavenging rats, shitty water surrounding the lower half of my body, it turned out that the sewers really weren't that bad of a place. Nice and dark, which were settings I greatly appreciated, and it didn't have anyone in here that were looking to kill me.

Yeah… Well as much as I have really hated slash slightly enjoyed this little venture into the dark tunnels, I still was having quite the difficult time finding an opening to the topside world from down here.

I was brought to the point that I even had to ask myself just how hard would it be to find a sewer lid when the usual street lamp shined on top of it. Apparently, it was extremely hard when it turned out that I haven't spotted one considering how long I've spent down here! Hell, I couldn't even find a ladder to take me back up to the surface!

"I wonder what dad would say to me right now…" I said to myself as the sounds of water gushing out of different tunnels echoed off the walls around me. "Probably something along the line of, "Beggars can't be choosers, Maria," hmm… maybe, "You got yourself into this mess, you can get yourself out," or some sort of bullshit sayings like that".

After mumbling to myself, I happened to come upon yet another intersection.

Letting a sigh go, I looked at my options: only six directions. I moved to the right wall on the farthest side and made deep claw marks in it before moving on. Keeping to the right had to get me somewhere, or at least I hoped it would lead me to a way out anyway.

After a few seconds of easy strides, I stopped and froze the best I could in the middle of the current.

I couldn't hear anything. The sound of the water droplets hitting the pipes and the water was gone. The only thing I heard was my own soft breathing and my heartbeat, and my heart began to increase in its beats as the silence continued.

"_Where the fuck did it all go…"? _I slowly thought to myself as my hand instinctively reached down and grabbed one of my knives from my belt. _"What the hell is going on…"?_

Wait! If the sounds stopped then that must've meant that I had finally reached an open area or maybe a way out, right? Quickly, I stretched both of my arms out to scan the area between me and the brick walls. But as I moved my arms out to touch one of the walls I had found out that the walls were gone. I was at another damn intersection. Dammit!

"_I'm never going to get out of this sewer"!_ I scowled as I took a few steps forward. I carefully scanned the area right before my eyes, trying to see if anything was in my way so that I wouldn't run into it. But then I heard it!

_Splash…!_

My heart stopped beating for a second as I held my breath; expecting some sort trick to pop out at me. Then it happened again…

_**Splash…!**_

It was coming closer… whatever it was anyway…

_**Splash!**_

I readied myself the best I could and had two knives in each hand just to be on the safe side. Whatever was coming was coming fast. I heard another splash come from my right and turned to the tunnel that it sounded like it was coming from. But then another came from behind me, and another from somewhere else. However, the other two sounded further away than the one right before me, so I stayed put for now.

_**SPLASH!**_

Staring down one of the tunnels of darkness, I awaited a battle cry, bullets coming straight out of a gun, or maybe something right out of a freshly brewed nightmare…

Squeak.

What the hell…?

What seemed to be a fat rat jumped up and down in the water; it wanted out of the water by getting onto a walkway. Well sucks for him since the walkways ran out as soon as the water reached my knees. Sucks for me since I was preparing to do battle with a rodent!

After smacking myself in the head for being such a fool for thinking that there was something trying to attack me down here, I continued on my way and walked into the tunnel that the rat just came out of.

Of course, the next second after I let my guard down something came right at me. Some sort of blunt object struck out at me and hit me right in the back of the head with (what felt like) enough force to rip through pure steel like it was aluminum foil.

As the area around me began to spin, I quickly realized how slowly I was beginning to breathe. My arms dropped down to my sides and knees gave out from underneath me. My eyelids felt like weights all of a sudden. I was getting very tired very fast. And this damn endless darkness wasn't helping anything at all.

Then it got worse as I tried to get back up; I couldn't get back up and meet my attacker. I was blacking out and I knew that I wasn't going to recover from it without falling asleep.

Oh damn! What if this was the end for me? My last words spoken to my father weren't the greatest in the world and I'd hate to die on them.

"Damn… it…" I groaned as I fell back down onto my knees. I leaned to my right, feeling the outline of the slimy wall against my cold hand. It was too slippery for me to try and get a grip on, so I just kept my hand sliding against it.

Before I knew it, another blunt attack was slammed against my head, and I was out like a light.

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**Now with the second chapter written and done, I must move on to create the third chapter.**

**So wish me luck, my readers, as I embark onto the more exciting third chapter.**

**Until next time, my good people!**


	3. Lurking In Shadows

**This is the continuation from the second chapter of this here story into the third chapter of this here story.**

**Nothing more to be said here other than let the story commence!**

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**Continuing With Maria's Point Of View:**

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You know that state of unconsciousness where you're half-awake and half asleep? Well I was about there by the time I stopped hearing the ringing in my ears and began to feel my head ache from where it had been struck.

It was official at this damn point; my career and days as a world renowned thief were over since it seemed like the fucking Batman had gotten the better of me. How did I know it was that damn bastard that did this to me? Even in a state of unconsciousness, I felt that I was suspended upside down a wire or rope of some sorts. Well that and I kept hearing this deep voice grumbling about something in the distance… Too bad I couldn't actually hear what it was saying.

On the other hand, I was slowly starting to return to full consciousness at this point and accidently let a soft groan race past my lips before I could stop it.

"Mmhh… Ahh…"

Something that sounded like a twig breaking in two went off and I knew that I'd made too much noise. I then pressed my lips together to make sure that I wouldn't alert the Dark Knight, more than I already have, of my return to the land of the living.

Well he heard me anyway and came stomping over to where I was suspended in the air. Wait a second… I never heard of Batman stomping before, and he is known for being very stealthy so…

A hissing sound echoed through wherever I was; at first, it sounded like a rough cough but then again it reminded me of an animal's growl.

One sentence came to my mind, and as much as I wanted to shout it, I simply let the sentence play through within my thoughts. _"This is definitely NOT the Dark Knight"._

Not wanting to wait for one more damn second, I snapped my eyes open and realized that I couldn't breathe! Someone's rough hand was at my throat and pressing down too much to allow for any normal person to be able to breathe.

Quickly, I tried to jerk my head away from the hand and tried to get its grip to loosen on my neck but to no avail. After ten seconds, I started gagging, feeling like I was about to throw up if I didn't get any air back into my system. I struggled around in the chains that were wrapped around my entire body, trying to find something to kick off of in order to free myself. Alas, I had no success with that plan as well.

At that point, I opened my mouth to say my last words as I felt that this would be the moment that I would die, only to find that the hand had finally relinquished its grasp.

Instantaneously, I began to cough and take in deep gulps of air, finally feeling the oxygen gushing right back into me as my lungs were filled with fresh air again. I was breathing real hard and quick, trying to find out what the fuck was going on and who had about strangled me to death.

Opening my eyes back up, I couldn't see a bloody thing. I'd gone blind! No wait… my vision was just blurry for a second there… Ok now I could see things a bit more clearly!

The first things I saw were not what I had expected to see at all.

I mean right after I opened my eyes, I saw a large opening that had been built into the side of a walkway that seemed to be the main entrance into this large cavern, probably originally built to hold equipment for the sewer system if anything ever happened to go wrong down here. A crushed, old couch had been laid out to the wall to my left and it seemed as if it was missing one of its seats. Narrowing my eyes just a bit, I happened to see that something along the lines of a bite had been taken out of the back of its grey fabric and right through the stuffing. Shaking my head, I then noticed a heaping mass of miscellaneous blankets and several large pillows were placed against the back wall, obviously having served as a bed for the person who owned them.

Alright so now I had an idea of where I was, but I had no fucking clue as to where I was exactly, what time it was or what the hell was going on but I knew one thing for sure. Sure enough, this entire storage space had been renovated entirely for the person who was currently residing within its structurally sound walls. They also seemed as if they didn't want to be casted out of their home seeing how they had suspended an uninvited guest that wandered in.

Getting past my surroundings and getting over its owner, I attempted to break free of my chains once again. However, another deep hissing sound stopped me from trying to struggle and made me freeze in midair. It continued and the echoed off the walls, turning and twisting its way here and there but always staying in my ears.

After a couple of seconds, the hissing died down and the only sound that followed it was that of dead silence. For the sewers to get this quiet, I knew that I was either somewhere near the opening of a tunnel or just deeper within the confines of the Gotham City sewer system. Oh goody… If I'm even deeper and even more lost within these tunnels then whoever dragged me here will have to welcome a size nine boot up their ass for putting me through this.

_Drip... drip... drip…_

_Drop... drop… drop…_

My ears twitched each and every time a water droplet struck its liquid body against a metal pipe. However, I wasn't annoyed by the sound they were making. I was waiting for something much larger than a droplet to hit a pipe or some sewer water; I was waiting for my attacker.

_Splash…!_

I snapped my eyes in the direction of the noise and caught sight of a blur. Dammit! Whoever was moving around down here was in their element since the best I could do was catch a mother fucking blur!

Swallowing my pride, I managed to shove all of my training out of my mind for a few seconds and ask, "Who's there"? Years of aiming to be stealthy and the very essence of what created the world's shadows… all of it was just slightly thrown down the drain when I spoke to my kidnapper.

_**Splash…!**_

I swung my head around to my left and managed to turn the rest of my body in the general direction of where the sound had come from. Even with my eyes that were naturally accustomed to darkness more than any normal person's eyes, I could barely see a small light that had been turned on, on the other side of the room. It revealed the rest of the cavern that I couldn't see at first but what I saw nearly scared the shit out of me.

_Bones!_ _Human bones! _They were piled up in small stacks in different sections of the room and some even had bits of flesh on them still!

"_What the hell have I gotten myself into"!? _I thought to myself rather than scream in surprise over this surprise. Still, I didn't exactly feel the need to scream but I certainly felt the need to shout something along the lines of, "What! The! Fuck"!

Right as I went to open my mouth to do just that, I ended up being shocked half to death when the same rough hand that clasped over my jaw from earlier repeated its actions once more. My eyes instantly widened knowing this, and I found myself beginning to struggle for what felt like dear life this time around.

Then without even the slightest bit of warning, another shadowy hand reached up and punched me in the gut to put an end to my squirming. It worked since it felt like an anvil fell on my stomach. It also seemed to knock whatever resistance I had for this kind of treatment I had left in me out of me.

At this point and time, all I knew was that this son of a bitch was so getting an ass kicking once I was out of these fucking chains!

He took his hand off of my mouth and stepped back and further into the shadows like he didn't want me seeing him.

"What the hell, man"?! I seethed with rage as I felt an instant bruise begin to form where I was struck. "Why the fuck are you doing this to me, you damn coward"!?

A deep chuckle ran throughout the cavern, and I found a cold chill run down my spine as its master silently went from being right in front of me to being right behind me. I found myself instantly regretting my two sentences as my thoughts told me that my mouth was most likely going to get me killed today.

"What's a little mouse doin' talkin' to me that way"? A rough Cajun voice seemed to hiss near my right ear. The man's words were laced with malicious intent and I bet he was smirking the way he called me a mouse, almost as if he was enjoying his choice of words.

"I… I was looking for something that I dropped down here…" I slowly explained to him as I tried to think of any possible way to get myself out of this situation and still be living and breathing. "So… if you could be a good gentleman for me and help me down-"

"Bitch," He tugged at my chains as some dark humor started entering his tone. "I ain't no gentleman- Hell, I ain't even gentle. If you're wonderin' how in hell you gonna get out of these here chains, then stop thinkin' right now".

I rolled my eyes when he called me a bitch and when he was done talking, I came back with, "You don't know who you're dealing with then"? I spoke like an insulted royal. "I'm the world famous Shadow Thief; I can get out of any place given the right amount of time and planning with whatever I was planning to steal".

There was silence for a few seconds after I had said that, but soon enough, my kidnapper started back up the conversation by punching me in the backside.

"Attattata… crap, that hurt, you bastard"! I scowled as I wished my body wasn't chained so that I could physically cringe in pain. "Didn't you hear what I told you"!?

"No, I heard ya," He slipped back around to my front side but still remained hidden within the shadows. "But now it's your turn to listen to me".

My mysterious kidnapper stepped into the dim light so that I could see him, but what I saw practically made my eyes pop out of their sockets. Dear lord! Look at who I've insulted! I'm literally going to die now!

I instantly saw the claws that were naturally deadly, the green tinted skin, and the scales that seemed to cover the majority of his body from what I saw. He had on a black vest and a pair of ripped pants without any shoes to go with his choice of attire. Once I took notice of what he was wearing, I saw a green tail came around from behind him and that was more than enough for me to know who I was dealing with.

"You should know that you're dealin' with _Killer Croc_, little mouse". He smirked and revealed his sharp teeth to me. "You should stop thinkin' about your little escape now".

He then stepped back into the darkness of the surrounding shadows and the last thing I could see of him were his bright yellow eyes staring right into my own dark eyes. "Now why don't you _hang_ around while I go out for just a bit, cher"?

I didn't say anything. I just nodded the best I could and watched as his eyes vanished into thin air. After that I heard a few splashes in the water and I knew he was gone… for now…

He'd be back and he'd kill or maybe eat me! Well… fuck it… I'd never thought I'd go out this way…

Nevertheless, I wasn't going down without the last word, last laugh or even the last throw. If Killer Croc was looking to do anything, then I wouldn't let any sort of plan he had cooked up work out for him. He'd get his way over my dead body… maybe literally at the rate I'm going… Fuck it…

* * *

**Alright the third chapter is now completed. And as most of you have seen so far, Maria and Croc haven't met on the best of terms. The two of them seem to be willing to kill the other in a heartbeat at the time being.**

**Well, I won't say anything else (since I'd be giving away my own plot) but the next chapter will clear things up.**

**So until the next chapter is posted, my good readers.**


	4. Still Living

**This is the continuation from the third chapter of this here story into the fourth chapter of this here story.**

**Now I would normally say that there is nothing else left to say here, but I do have one thing to say.**

**There will be some full on French near the end of the chapter so have your Google translate open in another tab and ready, people.**

**Yep, that's all for the top section so now onto the story.**

* * *

**Continuing The Story By Starting Off With Maria's Point Of View:**

* * *

Since I was pretty much left to think about my demise and how many ways he could devour my limbs, I quickly grew bored. Of course, I was very grateful for the fact that Killer Croc had left me alone and alive, but I was basically suspended in midair with no means of escaping. I mean I couldn't even see the ground below me… well if there was any ground now that I've thought about it.

With that in mind, I knew of no other way to escape other than by some sort of miracle that I somehow manage to trick or defeat Croc. I was no Batman when it came to beating the shit out of people, but I could still manage to give it my best shot.

Still…

On the other hand, I was kept in almost complete darkness without anyone to talk to or the ability to do anything but basically breathe and blink. A thought lingered in the back of my mind and after what seemed like an endless eternity, the thought came to my attention and told me of the fact that boredom tends to take a toll on a person's body and mind.

A long yawn escaped me as I blinked my eyes several times; desperately wishing my hands weren't tied up so that I could rub the sleep out of my eyes. Taking yet another look around the cavern, I tried to find anything that my eyes might've missed the other several hundreds of times that I looked over the place.

Casting my gaze about, I sighed heavily as nothing new popped out of the darkness and dim light. It was the same; the same filthy blankets, same beaten couch, and same little light on the other side of the room that was now starting to flicker off and on every now and again.

Goddamn it all…

Couldn't Killer Croc have left me with a few sewer rats to watch fight over a rotten scrap of food or something? Anything at all? Hell, at least if he did that, then at the very most I would've been able to watch rat carnage for the first two hours he left me all alone.

Regardless of what I wasn't or was left with, sleep was slowly setting into my system.

"_When was the last time I slept"? _I thought to myself as I attempted to stifle another yawn. _"Maybe a night or two ago…" _My thoughts concluded before I actually began nodding off to sleep.

At least if I was going to rest upside-down like a bat, then my sense of smell and hearing were keen enough to alert me of any disturbing noises, a skill I that was edged into me when I was training to be a thief a number of years ago.

So not giving a shit if Killer Croc showed back up, I actually managed to shut my eyes and block out the fact that I was trapped within Gotham City's sewer system and was surrounded by squeaking rats and bursting pipes.

* * *

**A Few Hours Later:**

* * *

"Wake up," A rough voice thundered in my ears.

Cringing at the sudden pain in my ears, I'd quickly come to realize that ol' lizard man was back from wherever he went. And as much as I wanted to break free of these chains and smack him upside the head for such a rude awakening, I merely smirked.

"That's not the right way to get a lady's attention".

A deep growl was the only response I got.

"You know, I was having a great dream about when I was a little kid," I went on talking, probably just to test boundaries. "Yeah, it involved some glitter, cute puppies, adorable kittens, and other unbelievable shit like that. Then I woke up to you and realized that my life is currently a waking nightmare".

He walked around to my front side and stared me right in the eyes. "Shut. Up. I don't wanna hear whatever you've got to say, little mouse".

"Whatever I've got to…"? I trailed off and then shook my head in a disappointed manner.

He gave me something of a bewildered glare when he saw this. "What's that supposed to mean"?

"Killer Croc, my good man, you have me all wrong. You see, Croc, I don't want to talk, I only want you to give me some answers-"

"Heh, you want answers"?

I mentally wanted to smack him again, but I let my rage go with a sigh. "Yes, I wish to have my questions answered. Now you can tell me where I am, how to get out of here and that's about it".

"How about no for a fuckin' answer"?

"Well then that all depends on how hard you want me to beat the shit out of you when I get out of these chains, you damn son of an insane mother fucking bitch"! I hissed the last part through clenched teeth. To hell with the nice talk, I was sick of this conversation which was obviously not going anywhere anytime soon.

I then swore that I saw stars for a couple of seconds. I then also regretted cursing the hell out of him.

A single scaly fist collided with my jaw and then another one punched the side of my abdomen. One of my bones sounded like it popped out of place, or maybe it actually cracked, but the pain wasn't all that important right now. The only thing that I could focus on right now were the two yellow eyes glaring daggers into me.

Grabbing and then pulling my head forward, Killer Croc continued to stare me down before he spoke. "Usually my victims would've cried the second they woke up upside-down," It almost seemed like he was choosing his words with some thought to them. "So why ain't you started bawling yet, little mouse"?

I remained silent for a moment, like I was trying to find my reason for not crying.

The first choice that popped into my head told me it was because I wasn't scared. Well since that seemed like it would've made him laugh out loud so I tried to think some more.

The second choice didn't help me out any more than the first. None of this which had happened to me actually managed to surprise me whatsoever. Hell, this wasn't the first time I'd been suspended in midair by a person who wanted me dead and sure as hell it wouldn't be the last time either.

Giving up on my train of thought, I just decided to go with whatever I felt in my gut. "You do realize that we're in Gotham City, right"?

"Wha-"

I cut him off and continued, "I was born and raised in this hellhole of a town and have learned to cope with insane situation that would've made any normal person breakdown and take their own life by now. I've gone through tough and impossible times that haven't made sense at times and that have also nearly blown my head off. Now I'm tied up with some chains and some rope without any real means of escaping my own demise. You, Killer Croc, really expected me to react like I've been punished by God and have been sent to suffer whatever hell you could give me? You really are crazy if you expected something like this to work on someone who's just as insane as you are".

He remained silent for a moment, almost as if he was truly taking my words into consideration. However, that still didn't stop him from cocking his head to the side and asking me, "Yet ya still act like this is normal"?

"Yep," I responded to him, giving my head a nod. "It's always felt unusual to feel afraid whenever I've been put under this kinda pressure".

"It's unusual to feel afraid"? Croc laughed at me. "Not if you want to live, cher".

At this point, I had no clue if this conversation was headed in a good direction or a bad one due to the fact that I was still living and breathing in front of a crazed crocodile man.

Nevertheless, I continued the topic. "For me it's just been unheard of to fear and run away from someone because they may be different than the rest of us. Even if they are a thief or a murderer. I, myself, am a thief and a killer who has little respect for a human's life. You, Killer Croc, are certainly one hell of a murderer, so why should I fear you if I kill people just as much as you do"?

He growled deeply. "Cause I can tear you limb from limb, bitch. Also, I don't need no lowlife thug tellin' me that she ain't afraid of me just cause she's slit her fair share of throats as well".

"First off, I'm not a thug". I stated very clearly as I narrowed my eyes at him. "Second, _I don't give a rat's ass that you can kill me! _That's what I'm trying to tell you, you fool"!

He chuckled darkly. "Well then you really are insane if you don't fear me, you know that"?

"Oy vey…" I groaned in annoyance. This conversation was starting to go nowhere again. "How so, Croco"?

"Look at you, talkin' to me like I'm one of your cohorts in crime. Strung up in midair covered in bruises like everythin' is normal. But I can tell that somewhere in your twisted little mind you're scared to the point that you might consider prayin' for once in your life. Your thoughts are thinkin' of a way out, and I can hear your heart hammerin' in your chest. Yet you choose to ignore your basic instinct to feel fear".

I sighed, "I thought we were past this already…"

"I could just crush ya skull in the palm of my hand," Croc gave me a toothy grin. "Wouldn't take but a second for you to die, little mouse".

"You seem to be lacking in understanding that we've pasted this point in the topic before".

He let go of my head and watched me as I swung back and forth for a couple of seconds. I merely just stared back at him with a slightly pleased expression upon my face. I had said what I had wanted to say and now it was up to him to make the next move.

"Insane, little bitch..." He muttered as he stood there, unmoving.

I didn't know what to say in response to that since he'd insulted me… again. Though, I was thankful I had gotten this far and was still alive and breathing. There was also something about Croc that had changed just a bit from when he first revealed himself to me. It was probably the fact that he found out that I wasn't shitting my pants over finding out that I had been kidnapped by Killer Croc of all people. That or maybe it was because no one else was around and he'd actually taken the time to talk to me and find out a little about the way my thought process ticked. He also knew that in this position I'm of no threat to him in any way, so if I tried to snap back at him enough, he could easily subdue me.

Then my mind came up with a plan on how to get the hell out of here: Pretend to be nice... or nice enough.

I rolled my eyes at my plan but then recalled that even after all of my reasoning, Croc still snapped back at me. He isn't the world's easiest person to talk to either, so that didn't help matters when I tried to talk my way out of this. So what other choice did I have at this rate?

"Hey," I spoke up, hoping to catch his attention.

He just stood there and remained silent.

"Hey," I repeated and then added, "I know you aren't deaf, you heard what I said"!

Suddenly his deep, gruff voice boomed and then echoed all around the cavern. "What"!?

"You got a name"? I asked.

"Killer Croc," He growled. "You so stupid that you forget that, bitch"?!

"I didn't ask for your title"! I snapped back at him but then calmed myself down. "I asked for your name".

"Why the fuck would you want to know that"?

"So I don't have to keep calling you lizard names or by your title all the time". I stated. "It gets annoying repeating the same thing over and over and over again, you know? So you have a name or what"?

Croc went silent again and continued to glare at me. I only stared back at him and said, "No need to rush, I've got all day thanks to being strung up".

He scoffed at my words and rolled his eyes. "My name is Waylon Jones".

"Maria Komori," I told him. "Or at least that's what my parents wrote down on my birth certificate".

"Heh, at least you had parents, cher". He remarked. I caught the hint of spite that was deeply engraved within his words and frowned.

"Hey, if your parents named you than they obviously cared… at least to an extent". I told him even though I felt as if I was overstepping boundaries. "Besides, I think your name fits you very well".

"Hhmp," Croc grunted slightly. "…Thanks… I guess".

After that the two of us quickly grew silent for a moment. Truth be told, I was thankful he wasn't being hostile towards me but I needed to get him to get me down. If I was lowered to the floor then at least I'd have a way better chance of escaping.

Taking one hell of a chance, I did not look away from those crocodile eyes. "Is… Is there any chance that I can be placed on the floor, Waylon"?

"No," He said flatly. "Wait- why"?

"Cause I'm starting to get a head rush," I said, "So any chance that I can be placed on the ground? I mean I won't try anything if you won't try anything".

"That might make me feel better if the ends of your hands weren't sharpened like knives".

"Hey, it's not my fault that I was born a bit defective". I cringed at my own words. For a second there, I could've sworn that I caught a glimpse of Waylon cringing as well. "So like I said, I won't try nothing and you won't try nothing. We got something of a deal"?

"Alright fair point, little mouse". He shrugged slightly and moved his arms around my body, keeping one eye on me, and undid the rope that held me up in the air. He didn't undo my chains however. "So answer me this, why are you down here"?

"I lost…" I trailed off for a second cause this was going to sound too stupid. "I lost a penny somewhere down here".

He pretty much dropped me down on the ground in order to stop himself from laughing out loud. Of course, he did end up laughing and clutching at his sides for a few seconds, but I ignored him as I tried to look around to see where he put my knives. Well, I didn't end up seeing them by the time Waylon picked my body up once more and plopped me down in a chair.

"You kiddin' me, cher"? He chuckled.

"Yeah no…" I said feeling a bit ashamed, not to mention embarrassed, since I told him I was a great thief and now I was telling him that I lost a penny. "I wish I was, but I'm not kidding. My boss is gonna kill me if I don't find that coin, course those gangsters that are after me are probably gonna get to me beforehand".

He peered at me curiously. "Gangsters, you say"?

"Yeah," I sighed. "Some Frenchmen thought they were going to end me. Heheh, well seeing how over half of them are missing half their organs, I'm pretty sure I got the last laugh".

"Frenchmen, huh"? Waylon seemed to think this over. "And you say that you were stealing a coin"?

"Yes, what about it"? I had a feeling that my plan was slowly starting to decline in its progress.

"Just kinda funny considerin' that I sent some guys out the other night," He said. "They were supposed to be back by now".

"Oh…" Was all I could bring myself to say.

"Ya wouldn't happen to know somethin' about that now, would ya, little mouse"? Waylon came closer and gripped the sides of the chair I was placed in with his claws.

I felt his talons start to pierce the material of the clothing on my arms. "No…" I hissed through a bit of pain. "I don't know anything…"

"Eh bien, je sais pertinemment qu'il s'agissait de mes hommes que vous avez tués"! He suddenly growled in my face. Once again his temper was flaring up and I could feel myself ignore my basic instinct to flee the room right now since he forgot to tie both my legs and arms to the chair.

"Quoi"?

"Vous avez entendu ce que j'ai dit, cher"! He moved back into the shadows of the cavern so that all I saw were those harsh, yellow eyes glaring at me.

"A- Attendez une seconde," I tried to calm him down so that he wouldn't feel like ripping out my throat. "Ils auraient pu être des gangsters français. C- Comment savons-nous qu'ils étaient vos homes"?

"Probablement parce que j'ai trouvé cette pièce dans la même région où j'ai trouvé les cadavres de mes hommes et où je vous ai trouvé"! He flicked a coin in my general direction.

When it landed on the floor, I felt like kicking the shit out of myself for being such a screw up. It was one of the first pennies ever made in America, aka the one I was supposed to steal the other night.

"Oy vey…" I grumbled to myself.

I couldn't do anything for a couple of seconds there. Hell, I couldn't even bring myself to breathe, but thankfully a deep growl snapped me back into reality.

Looking upward, I found myself staring into the eyes of a beast. "L- Look I'm sure my boss can easily replace those guys you lost-"

"Yeah," Killer Croc cut me off. "He'll sure as hell do that".

"And you've got the dammed penny to boot". I stated. "I don't even want the fucking thing anymore since look at the hellhole that tiny thing dragged me into. Keep it, sell it, I don't give a flying fuck what you do with it".

"So what"?! Croc snapped at me. "You can keep your worthless, little life"?!

I stared at him with a brow raised, gave his words some thought, and then shrugged my shoulders. "Heh, it ain't much of a life but it's the only one I've got, so might as well live it while I can. Not to mention if I don't get back to my boss…" I paused trying to fathom my father seeing my dead corpse and not breaking down and crying. "…He'll bring me back from the dead and then kill me again".

Waylon shook his head and sauntered over to the entrance to the cavern. I stared at the back of him and hoped to God that he wasn't just about to leave me for another huge chunk of time without anything to do but sit and breathe.

"So let's say I let you go," Croc spoke up out of the blue. "You go runnin' back to your boss man and tell him to send a couple of lackeys ol' Killer Croc's way"?

"I'm honor bound to do such a thing if you agree to release me". I told him.

"Hmm…" He hummed to himself, seeming lost in thought for a few seconds there. After a little while he spoke up once more. "How good of thief didja say ya were again, cher"?

My eyes widened just a bit and I titled my head in confusion. "I'm known as the famous Shadow Thief, remember? I told you that earlier, Waylon".

"So how's about we forget replacin' my men"? He questioned me as he turned back to face me.

"Then what the hell do you want in return for taking those lackeys' lives and trying to steal your heist"? I asked him in annoyance. "My boss can give you one really good man if that's what you're-"

"I ain't lookin' to hire," Waylon told me flat out as he crossed his arms. "I'm lookin' to borrow".

"You want to borrow one man"? I questioned.

"No," Croc sent me one of his devilish grins. "I want to borrow you".

* * *

**Yeah I'm not going to say much down here either. **

**Question: why? Answer: because.**

**Now I must start on the fifth chapter so that this one hell of a cliffhanger can have somewhere to go. So until next time, folks.**


	5. Arguments To Agreements

**This is the continuation from the fourth chapter of this here story into the fifth chapter of this here story.**

**And warnings for anyone who looks out for warnings: This chapter contains tobacco usage and swearing. Yeah that's about it.**

**So on with the story already!**

* * *

**Third Person's Point Of View:**

* * *

The old Gotham Toys and Gaming factory resided downtown and on the very edge of where the city met the harbor. It was a very popular location for those who would and those who are dealing in smuggling and other various illegal trades to show up at.

However, the factory, itself, looked to be rundown and practically falling down. It wasn't the best place for an ideal thief's headquarters, but it could have been a hell of a lot worse. After crawling out of a sewer hole, the sight of that old, filthy factory (after being confined within the sewers for who knows how long) looked like the Taj Mahal in Maria's eyes.

After seeing Maria look at an old, shabby building like it was heaven, Croc knew that this was that base she was telling him about on the way here.

"Some hell of a dump you've got here," He said to her as he pulled at his trench coat a bit more so it'd cover his scales a bit better. "You sure anyone's home"?

Maria rolled her eyes as she walked up to the front door. "Yeah, yeah, I know it isn't all that great, but it's what my boss picked out. I'm telling you right now that the man has hidden in the sleaziest parts of the slums to evade the GCPD's guys and guns that were used to try find him before, and he'll do it again in a single heartbeat".

"Fine, fine," Croc grumbled as he stepped beside her. "Whatever you say, cher. Listen, just get us inside so I can explain things to your boss man".

"Alright, Mr. Pushy," Maria sighed as she pulled out one of her knives. Slowly, but carefully, she cut certain lines into the rotten wood of the reinforced door and tapped the very tip of the knife on the handle seven times in a row.

A quiet _TWANG_ was heard on the other side of the wall and the door opened up like magic had possessed it to do so. Upon seeing the door wide open, Croc had tried to walk right in but was stopped when an arm stretched out before him.

"Always wait seven seconds…" Maria commented more to herself than Croc as she continued to look straight on to the wall inside.

A few of seconds later, a rather large, black piano fell down from the ceiling and blocked the entry way. Croc merely blinked at the spot where he could've been standing and then looked to the young woman by his side.

"See if I hadn't warned you, you'd be a new crocodile skin jacket". Maria smirked as she opened the half broken lid to the piano. She pulled out a tiny remote and pushed a single red button. The floor below the piano suddenly vanished and the black void filling it had the broken instrument fall down into its depths.

"What the hell…"? Croc questioned, finally getting over the fact that he was almost flattened.

"Hmm…"? The young woman had almost forgotten about the other criminal standing beside of her for a second. "Oh yeah! Sorry about the fright, Waylon, but my boss loves his security and that includes the measures that he has to go to in order to get some peace and quiet".

He looked down upon the shorter woman and glared at her. "I was _not_ frightened".

"_Yeeesshh…"_ Maria thought to herself as she pulled her arm back to her side to allow Croc inside. _"This guy's gonna kill someone just by glaring daggers at them"._

Upon entering the building, Killer Croc noticed that it'd been a manufacturing plant that had been rundown for some time now, but it still held all of its remnants from previous years. For instance, old fashioned checker boards, 1,000 piece puzzles, Chutes and Ladders, and of course chess boards and pieces. It was dingy, tattered, and ransacked to all ends, and this was apparently a famous thief's base.

Maria saw the look that Croc was given the place and scoffed. "Hey, now I know it isn't the best base in the world, but it was the best location that we managed to find on such short notice".

"Face facts, little mouse," He said in his usual manner. "It's a shit-hole. Though, it figures that you'd find somethin' less than standard considerin' you _are_ less than standard".

The young thief simply gave him an unimpressed look and said, "Yeah… I'm gonna choose to take that as some morbid complement. Now come on, Lizard-lips," Maria started making her way over to the other side of the rundown factory, all the while seemingly oblivious to Croc's scowl that had appeared.

Giving a bit more energy in her stride, Maria leapt up the spiral staircase in the corner of the huge room and made her way to the next floor. Croc caught up to her on his own time and upon reaching her, he saw the redhead reach for the first handle to the first door on the left. The door read FACTORY EMPLOYEES ONLY in big, black letters but that didn't stop these criminals.

Quietly, opening up the door and peering inside, squinting to see what lay within, Maria shrugged and went to shut the door before a shotgun blast went off and someone yelled out, "WHO THE FUCK'S THERE"!?

The young thief visibly cringed and smiled, "Sounds like the boss is awake".

"No kiddin'…" Croc commented as the two of them entered the room.

As they stepped in they witnessed a middle-aged man with bloody red hair that was shaped like the top of a cravat had nearly fallen off from the stool that he was perched on.

The height of this man could give Scarecrow a run for his money not to mention that the man had stitches running down vertically from the top of his face and down his neck. His ears and teeth were both pointed just like Maria's, though his lower body was relatively fat and stubby in comparison to her slim and fit hourglass figure. The man's skin was a shade of pale blue of which his lips, armbands and the edges of his gloves shared in color. His coat and gloves were black whilst his pants were blood orange. Overall, the guy's general appearance resembled that of the devil himself.

The stool he sat on suddenly leaned over a banged up kettle. The kettle was placed on a lounge stove, filled with water, which the man had apparently gotten from the sink faucet. Next to the sink stood a fridge which had lost its bottom panel; its hinges were rusted and worn, and it was nearly empty.

Two ragged, black couches sat opposite of one another on the far side of the room, complete with a small stand on which an out-of-date television had been smashed to bits and pieces. A rather large coffee table laid on the other side of the room with guns, jewels, and what seemed like spy equipment spread across its surface. Various other swords and guns were hung up and littered the walls of the room for what could easily be assumed to be more than for décor purposes. Killer Croc noticed this and knew that it wasn't much in the way of equipment and a working base, but he just guessed that they had far more stuff than this hiding around in this dump of a building.

Croc then moved towards a table in the center of the room and noticed the middle-aged man pull out two kinds of tea boxes from the cabinet above him, setting them and his shotgun down upon the counter between the stove and the sink.

"It's about time you got back, young lady"!

Maria sighed before walking over to the man and resting her hands on his shoulders. "Yeah nice to see you too, pop".

Croc raised a brow, _"She's his daughter…"?_

"No," Mr. Komori continued to shout at her. "I won't stand for this kind of behavior any longer! Do you realize that I sent every fuckin' soul that I had on me out there to look for you, Maria?! Honey…" He looked up at her with a sad expression that suddenly turned back to a raging one. "I'm losing business thanks to you"!

"Ah, yeah, that's what I came back to talk to you about, dad". Maria stated as she let go of her father and walked over to Croc. "See this is-"

"No you listen," He cut her off. "I've been worrying for days if you were caught by the Batman or not, and here you show up out of nowhere and for what!? I can just tell that you didn't get the penny back and that you wasted a few days wandering about God knows where! You didn't even bother to call me and-" Her father then finally caught sight of the mysterious man in the rather large trench coat and raised a brow. "Hey, who's this big yutz"?

"You're one to talk about big". Croc hissed out.

Maria's father narrowed his dark eyes at the crocodile man. "Hey! You got somethin' to say, say it to my face! Maria," He then looked to his daughter. "Who the fuck is this and why the hell did you let him into our current headquarters"?!

She went to say something but was cut off as Croc's arm was lowered before her. Croc gave her one look and that was all she needed to step back and let him introduce himself.

He threw his trench coat off to the side and looked back at Maria's father to see his expression. Her father took in the sight of the green scaly skin, long, wicked tail, and mouth which was full of razor-sharp teeth and then some. The man's jaw slightly dropped as his eyes instantaneously widened at the sight of Killer Croc standing right before him.

"Go ahead and shoot a fuckin' picture. Yeah, yeah, I know, big, fuckin' crocodile freak. Nice to meet you". Croc said with sarcasm and some spite. His voice even managed to make the man tremble just a bit. "Y'know you and your daughter both have the same damn problem; you both go off on people before you see that they have scales and a set of jaws".

Truth be told, Maria's father was more surprised than scared at this sudden change in events. As well as his daughter, Mr. Komori was also born and raised in the hellhole known as Gotham City and had learned to cope with insane situations long before his little girl ever came into existence. He knew all about Gotham's greatest villains and the Batman just like everyone else in the city, but unlike everyone else, he chose to live his own life and run his own line of work instead of worry about who escaped from Arkham.

However, that still didn't mean that he wouldn't be surprised when one of Arkham Asylum's famous, dangerous rouges show up on his front doorstep with his daughter in tow.

Maria's father turned to face her. "W- Where the hell did you find and meet Killer Croc"!?

"The sewers, duh". She said, deadpanned.

The redheaded man only shook his head at his daughter's words as his hand shakily went back to his shotgun. "L- Listen I don't know why my k- kid brought you here, but I'd like to apologize for a- anything that might've offended you".

"Write me a list later," Croc said with something of a grin. "Right now I'm here to discuss business".

"W- What kind of b- business"?

"It's business regardin' your daughter,"

Mr. Komori knocked all the shock and the little fright out of his body right then and there. Throwing his caution into the wind, the man's expression turned dark as he narrowed his eyes at Croc and clenched his teeth. "The hell is isn't, ya bastard"!

"Am I supposed to stand here, give ya a nice chance to make some cash, then get cursed out without doing somethin' about it"?! He said with anger. His yellow, glowing eyes were glaring at other man, awaiting an answer.

"Oh well excuse my hospitality, sir," Mr. Komori hissed sarcastically as both of his hands suddenly had a grip his shotgun. "But no one is to talk about any sort of business regarding my little girl! That includes giant crocodiles too"! He went to raise the gun and fire it right at Croc's face, but the gun was suddenly knocked out of his grasp.

Upon seeing the man completely and totally defenseless, Killer Croc went to swipe at the man's head with his claws and permanently separate it from his body. Though, he found that a foot had stomped his fist into the floor and had busted it right through and to the next floor's ceiling.

Both men looked to the young lady who currently stepped away from their little disagreement.

Taking out a pack of cigarettes from her pocket and proceeding to light one, Maria sighed before she said, "Waylon, I'd like to apologize for my father being such a stubborn, reckless jackass". She took a moment to take in the fresh smoke fumes and continued. "Please do not consider eating my old man; he is the old man who can make a deal with you so that you can earn a ton of cash, so he's not on the menu". She then turned her attention towards her father. "Pops,"

"Yeah"?

"I need you stop acting like a child for once and handle this conversation with Waylon like you would any other customer".

Maria's father gave her a bewildered expression. "Like any other customer…?! Maria, do you know who this is- ah, no offence, Croc".

Croc only growled in response as he pulled his hand out of the floor.

"This is one of those rouges- the kind of rouges that attract Batman's attention! If one of them is here then that puts our entire organization- no wait- my entire life's work at risk"!

"I know that, pop! That's why I made sure that the timing was right when we arrived here. Thanks to reading the papers, I know that B-man is currently out there trying to stop Mr. Freeze from doing some cold related crime, so he's too busy to mess with those of us who are into more of the dirtier kind of work".

Mr. Komori then clenched his hands into fists at his daughter's words. She may have been right and had planned this meeting perfectly, but she didn't have much regard for her own life and safety. Maria could've been spotted stealing the newspaper that she read from, shot by a rival gang on her way back to the base, or something! Hell, Killer Croc could've just chosen to rape and then eat her and that would've been that!

Glancing up at the rouge, Maria's father took notice that he was still in the room and it seemed like his daughter had convinced him to stay… of course she first offered the chance of cash for that to happen. Croc still wanted to talk business and apparently this job could make both sides of the operation a load of money, but this job involved his daughter working with a Category Nine criminal.

"Alright, alright, I get the picture now, sweetie," Mr. Komori sighed reluctantly and then pulled out his own pack of cigarettes. "We just had to go through… um, formalities first".

"…Yeah, sure," Maria rolled her eyes and proceeded to one of the black couches in the room to take a seat. "Waylon, you might as well make yourself comfortable while you talk things over with my father". She pat the seat of the couch beside her.

Croc simply gave her a single nod in reply and then looked to her father and hissed out, "You're just lucky that I lost my appetite since you opened up that mouth of yours". He then made his way to the couch and sat down beside Maria.

Trying not to give the major criminal a dirt look, Maria's father went straight to work. "Ok so what are you looking to do? Like do you have a plan or not"?

"I actually helped him out with the planning a bit, dad". Maria spoke up.

"Then what's the plan that you two came up with"? He asked both of them but only expected one to answer.

"I only need her to help me and my remainin' men with a little heist". Croc smirked devilishly at the end of his sentence.

"Ehh, what kind of heist are we talking about here"? Mr. Komori questioned, his fingers lacing together.

"The kind that needs a little help gettin' started". He replied. "Some ammo for a few extra guns that I've got lying around and a little payment for… health insurance purposes…" His eyes looked over to Maria, and as she didn't seem to notice what he said or what he was looking at, Mr. Komori sure as hell noticed.

He took in a long draw on his cigarette and then sighed, "I hope that's all that you'll be needing. I don't exactly have that much money to flaunt around with right now, and I sure as hell don't want to be throwing it down the drain".

"As long as you do what is required then nothin' will go wrong". Croc chuckled darkly. "Anyhow, I need a little extra help and accordin' to your daughter's famous title, with her taggin' along, we'll come out on top. It just so happens that certain guards won't listen to us if I try to use my ways, so an extra killin' hand never hurt to have around. Besides… If more of my men die, then you owe me; I don't have replacements right now and your little girl owes me her services after butcherin' a couple". Croc then smirked once again. "She just has to listen to what ol' Killer Croc has to say, and then I won't any reasons to hurt anyone here… got it"?

There was a bit of silence in the room for a about a minute or so. Mr. Komori had to rethink everything that had just gone down, and he realized that he still had no clue as to what kind of job Croc was looking to pull.

On the other hand, he knew that if he rejected the offer that it might just make the crazed killer jump off the deep end entirely and start to attack everything and everyone in sight. Maria's father didn't want that, not at all. He wanted Croc to remain as sane and stable as long as possible, if only for the rest of the time that he spent in their base. Croc certainly was a bit more than unnerving when he didn't get his way, and even Batman hated fighting him when he got that way; even Mr. Komori had to acknowledge that.

"_I know I'm gonna regret this…"_ The man thought to himself as he felt the need to smack himself in the face. He looked back up at the major criminal and extended his hand out to him. "It seems we've got something of a deal. Of course, I expect only two of the following things: Maria's safe return and let's say forty percent of the profits".

Croc thought about the two and turned more attention to the profits than the girl. "No way. You get thirty percent".

"What about thirty-five"?

"Fine, it's a deal".

* * *

**I'd thought I'd go ahead and say that for those who are wondering the same question about my characters, or more specifically their so called backstory. Well, let me just say that all will be revealed in due time, my readers, but as for the time I'm just getting little bits and pieces out there. This process just really helps build up my, and really anyone's, characters for a story.**

**Alright so that's it for this chapter, my good people.**

**Until the next chapter!**


	6. Hellbound Demons

**This is the continuation from the fifth chapter of this here story into the sixth chapter of this here story.**

**Yes, yes, I know that this one is pretty much cut in half compared to this story's other chapters, but I felt as if this one deserved to be on its own. I mean I could've just added it into the end of the fifth one but no.**

**Alright, so with all of that said and done, here's the newest addition to the story.**

* * *

Shortly after the agreement was sealed, Maria thought she'd hurry the rest of the conversation along before Killer Croc changed his mind and tried to kill her father. The same went with Maria's father since right after the two men shook hands, his own hands went straight back to his shotgun.

The rest of the meeting went over quick and easy. It was primarily Maria telling her father about the details about their job that her and Croc had come up with during their time spent together. The job, itself, was to infiltrate the Gotham City bank and steal all the money they possibly could from the bank. Naturally, the Batman would show up right as some sort of alarm was tripped, but Mr. Komori held the solution to that little problem.

By the time the Dark Knight appeared on the scene, Maria's father would have a few of his own men start to run from the bank with empty bags.

"Now if that flying rodent doesn't fall for that old trick, then you're both on your own". Mr. Komori stated plain and simple. "If he does come for you, then it's up to each of you to choose what course of action to take: fight or flight".

He left it at that and didn't bother to take the subject any further. After all, he was talking to two, grown adults who were perfectly capable of taking care of themselves, but if they were caught then it was out of his hands.

A few more, little details here and there about what who was to do what, and the conversation began to draw to a finish.

"Alright," Mr. Komori sighed with some relief. "Does this plan satisfy you both"?

Croc said nothing but merely nodded in agreement.

"This is fairly easy job we've come up with," Maria said and turned her head towards Croc. "But we'll need a day or two to sort some minor things before we can carry out the job".

"Yeah, yeah, whatever you say, cher," He grunted as rose from his seat. "I don't really care. Whatever you need to do, do it. Two days from now, I'll be back to collect ya for the job and you'd sure as hell better be ready by then".

"Don't worry, I only need to get some of my blades ready for the-"

"I said that I don't give a shit what ya do," Croc growled slightly. It was certainly obvious that at this point he was done. "I've got better things to do right now, so be a good girl and show me to the door".

Maria's pointed ears shot up in surprise at the way he talked to her, and that was followed by the death glare that she was bent on giving him. "I ain't your bitch," She spat. "You know where the door is, so see yourself out". As soon as those words went past her lips, Maria wished with all her might that she hadn't said them even though Croc deserved it.

Now.

Yes, now she was going to die.

Waylon smirked down at her as her eyes widened with fear. "You're pretty stupid, huh"? He growled in her face. "You should've just kept your mouth shut… You'd probably have better chances of living then"?

"Y- Yeah," She said as she found it hard to find her voice. "S- So thank God for the fact that we just settled on a heist. After all, you said that you need me and my father's men in order to pull it off right"?

"You got it," He hissed, his expression growing deadly. "But let me make one thing clear, cher. I don't care about your needs. I don't care about your wants. I don't care about your job. I don't care about your family, and I don't care about your friends. I don't care about you". He was cold and venomous as he spoke. "So don't fuck this up and don't fuck with me. Got that, little mouse"?

Maria had no reply- not that she was given a chance to give one. Croc brusquely turned away and exited the room. The young thief stood still and remained silent, listening to the sound of his footsteps descending the stairwell, growing fainter with each and every step.

"Asshole," Maria scoffed as soon as she was sure that Croc had left.

Mr. Komori had jerked in surprise at the comment. He let out a big sigh as he realized the danger was gone. They managed to dodge a real bullet there. Anything could've gone wrong in a negotiation with rouge, Killer Croc at that!

"You are so fuckin' reckless that it's not even remotely funny". He said in response to his daughter's words. Leaning an elbow on the edge of the sink he sat next to, he heaved another shaking sigh of relief, his forehead landing against his open palm with a light smack.

Maria remained were she sat on the sofa, eyeing the empty doorway. She appeared distant and his mouth set into a serious frown. After another few moments, she turned and looked to her father. "Did you hear the way he talked to me," She finally said. "I am not a person to be taken light- you know that! And what did you agree on again?! Oh yeah- thirty-five percent my ass, I'm the one who'll be doing all of the real work! I'm the one who'll be taking the risks"!

"You know that's how most of these things go down..." Her father shot back, irritated beyond belief. "The bigger man comes to the smaller man and if the smaller man doesn't do what he's told- BHAM! He's knocked right into next week"!

Maria raised a brow, "…Or he just kills the other man,"

Setting his shotgun down, Mr. Komori brought both hands to his forehead. "What am I going to do with you…"?

"Yeah, yeah," Maria sighed. "I'm more trouble than I'm worth". She let a slight laugh go and looked back up to her father.

He still held his head in his hands. "Dad…? Are you all right"?

Maria then stood up and walked over to her father and placed a hand on the man's knee. "Did Waylon really frighten you that much"?

"You mean Killer Croc"? The man then laughed weakly. "Then fuck no. No, I'm just overwhelmed with the fact that I just signed a deal with a demon that involved my only daughter- my only child- working with said demon. Other than that I'm just peachy".

"Hey you've got no reason to fret, dad. We've got the whole thing planned out, and I'm fairly certain that Waylon doesn't want to eat me. Well… maybe he wants to smack my arrogance and my smartass sentences right out of me, but other than that there's nothing to lose sleep over".

"Yes, but you need to realize that I don't want you working with someone who'll attract the Batman's attention! The Dark Knight might beat the living daylights outta you and suspend you from the top of a building for Christ's sake! Then you'll be sent to Arkham Asylum- or maybe Blackgate Penitentiary- and I won't be able to get you out once you're in there! And-"

"And you need to stop worrying"! Maria silenced him. "I'm a grown woman and a skilled thief, and I can take care of myself, father".

"…I know," Mr. Komori examined the floor intensely and wished he were anywhere else but in this uncomfortable situation. He was supposed to be telling his daughter what was what, not the other way around.

"You've protected me in the past, but I don't need you worrying about me at this point in my life". Maria told him. "Now I know you're my father and that's your job, but your job is not to worry about whatever job that I'm put in or told to do".

"Alright, alright," He sighed in defeat. "I won't worry if you get yourself locked up. And if you do happen to get locked up, then it's all your own damn fault cause you're a reckless hellbound soul. Oh, and don't bother calling me to bail you out when that does happen, cause I ain't gonna pay your bail".

"Thanks…" Maria smiled.

"You can be such a fuckin' handful sometimes, you know that? I mean look at all the damn trouble that shows up on my doorstep every time you walk into one of my bases".

"I know, I know" She replied with a smirk. "I'm your little burden".

"Damn right you are,"

"Dad"?

"What"?

"Did you really worry about me when I was gone for those few days"?

"Don't push your luck, Maria".

* * *

**Ok so that is the end for this chapter, my good readers.**

**Until the next chapter is posted then, and don't worry. The next one will be its normal size and length for the chapters that I've got planned for this story.**


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